Betlem found guilty

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By Scott Brand

Sault Ste. Marie Evening News - Sault Ste. Marie, MI

By Scott Brand

Posted Jan. 19, 2014 at 4:00 PM

By Scott Brand
Posted Jan. 19, 2014 at 4:00 PM

Sault Ste. Marie

Dale A. Betlem, 41, was found guilty on four counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct and a fifth for distributing sexually abusive material to a minor by Judge Elizabeth Church, concluding a four-day bench trial on Friday.

Judge Church did find Betlem not guilty on a pair of charges for second degree criminal sexual conduct, saying she could not determine he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on those two counts.

Judge Church issued her split decision after deliberating for roughly 90 minutes following closing arguments.

Assistant Chippewa County Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Chambers, seated with Det. Greg Postma of the Chippewa County Sheriff Office, argued that Betlem was guilty of all seven counts in her closing arguments and outlined a number of key pieces of corroborating evidence including a pair of girl’s underwear with DNA evidence belonging to Betlem, pornographic videos found in a trailer and on an iPhone which supported the girl’s claims and medical testimony.

Perhaps the most damning evidence, however, came from four other victims who testified, Chambers recapped, that Betlem had been sexually involved with them at ages ranging from 9-years-old to 14-years-old.

Chambers also pointed to testimony from one of the abused girls where the defendant had said, “if you tell anyone, I will seriously hurt you,” arguing that the victim’s silence and sometimes conflicting testimony over the years since 2006 was fueled by the fear the girl had for her safety.

Attorney Jennifer France mounted her best defenses, saying there was no verification the recovered pornographic videos were the ones that had been viewed by the girl. France also added that on the first degree criminal sexual conduct cases there was no corroborating evidence to support the claims and provided a number of different scenarios where DNA evidence could have wound up on the girl’s underwear without a sexual assault taking place.

France also questioned the findings of the medical and lab personnel in her final oral arguments before concluding that the prosecutor “has not proven this case beyond a reasonable doubt and for this reason you must find him ‘not guilty'.”

Betlem, who has been lodged in the Chippewa County Jail since his arrest last summer, was led back to his cell immediately following the guilty verdict.

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled in this case with court officials estimating it would likely be somewhere around three weeks before he makes another appearance to learn his fate.

Betlem is facing up to life in prison following Friday’s conviction with a minimum of 25 years behind bars on each count. The way the law is written, it appears as though it would be up to the Judge’s discretion in each case to determine whether the sentences would run consecutively — guaranteeing a minimum of 100 years behind bars, or concurrently — which could be as low as 25 years.